The relatively recent boom of the electronics industry, particularly in the consumer electronic market has yielded a number of portable appliances with rechargeable batteries, such as cellular phones and flashlights, which utilize electrical plug assemblies with pivotable blades used for battery charging. The pivotable blades are pivotable to a use position to enable the blades to be plugged into a mating electrical socket, such as a conventional wall outlet, for battery charging and a retracted or storage position.
Prior pivotable plug assemblies utilized in electronic devices have generally required modifications to the standard blades to provide a detent function for releasably holding the blades in either a use position or retracted storage position relative to the appliance housing. Examples of plug assemblies having modified blades are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,263 to Conforti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,401,178 to Liu; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,449 to Chioo.
European electrical plug assemblies include blades formed as a rod with a generally circular cross sectional shape to conform to the mating electrical sockets employed in Europe. Since such blades do not provide the flat curved end like standard flat blades utilized in the United States, any modifications to accommodate a detenting function, for example, as discussed in the aforesaid patents, is made more difficult due to their smaller rounded ends. Accordingly, a pivotable plug assembly which does not require modifications to the blades, and in particular to European style rod-shaped blades, would be desirable.
Another major problem with pivotable plug assemblies is the large number of parts, such as springs and ball bearings, utilized for both the electrical and detent functions. The large number of parts increases the complexity and expense associated with manufacturing pivotable plug assemblies which translates into higher costs for the consumer appliance with which they are utilized. Since appliances with pivotable blades are typically very price sensitive products, any unnecessary costs associated with parts or manufacturing are to be avoided. Accordingly, there is a need for a plug assembly with pivotable blades which utilizes a low cost, easy to assemble detent mechanism for the plug assembly and which does not require modifications to standard existing blade designs.